Bradley Cooper: Before He Was Famous

Sure, everyone lays claim to him now. Men want to be him. Ladies want to be with him. And it seems as though Hollywood can't get enough of those piercing eyes, that full head of hair, that permanent scruff that makes him look rugged, yet approachable.

We're talking about Bradley Cooper. You know: that hunk and a half, the debonair lead of last summer's juggernaut 'The Hangover' and the new mug of Templeton "Face" Peck in the highly anticipated feature film adaptation of 'The A-Team.'

People sure do love themselves some Bradley. And he seems to be everywhere these days: On the other side of Scarlett Johansson and accompanying Betty White to honor Sandra Bullock at the MTV Movie Awards; with his fellow A-Teamsters at the Spike Awards; linked to actresses such as Jennifer Aniston and Renee Zellweger. The Internet is rife with fan-generated tributes to the actor with the matinee idol good looks.

Apparently, it's Bradley's world, and we just live in it. But before he hit the jackpot with 'The Hangover' and before those blue eyes were everywhere as the Face man, he was just another pretty face trying to make it in Hollywood. Turns out the Philadelphia-born actor had quite a few lesser-known roles before his star-making bachelor chic turn as Phil Wenneck in 'The Hangover' came along.
Sure, everyone lays claim to him now. Men want to be him. Ladies want to be with him. And it seems as though Hollywood can't get enough of those piercing eyes, that full head of hair, that permanent scruff that makes him look rugged, yet approachable.

We're talking about Bradley Cooper. You know: that hunk and a half, the debonair lead of last summer's juggernaut 'The Hangover' and the new mug of Templeton "Face" Peck in the highly anticipated feature film adaptation of 'The A-Team.'

People sure do love themselves some Bradley. And he seems to be everywhere these days: On the other side of Scarlett Johansson and accompanying Betty White to honor Sandra Bullock at the MTV Movie Awards; with his fellow A-Teamsters at the Spike Awards; linked to actresses such as Jennifer Aniston and Renee Zellweger. The Internet is rife with fan-generated tributes to the actor with the matinee idol good looks.

Apparently, it's Bradley's world, and we just live in it. But before he hit the jackpot with 'The Hangover' and before those blue eyes were everywhere as the Face man, he was just another pretty face trying to make it in Hollywood. Turns out the Philadelphia-born actor had quite a few lesser-known roles before his star-making bachelor chic turn as Phil Wenneck in 'The Hangover' came along.

Sure, last summer's bachelor party hit catapulted Cooper into the next stratosphere of stardom, and gave him enough of a cushion to survive a hit from a movie like 'All About Steve' and be able to call Sandra Bullock "Sanda Douche" on national television. But there was a time before Cooper was an 'A-Team' A-lister. For some, he'll always be that snoopy bespectacled journalist who seemed to get himself and his double agent friend into hot water. For others, he'll be that rugby-shirt wearing oaf barreling his way between a wedding crasher and his true love. So let's take a mini-Cooper journey down memory lane, and we can say that we knew Bradley when ...

He was a reporter who got shipped off to witness protection. While the Georgetown grad had previously appeared on episodes of 'Sex and the City,' 'The $treet' and 'Miss Match,' it was his role on J.J. Abrams' spy drama 'Alias' (2001), as meddling journalist and forever friend to Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) Will Tippin, that first registered Cooper on TV viewers' radars.

He was out chasing cougars. In 2004, Cooper appeared in recurring role on the critically beloved but short-lived WB series 'Jack & Bobby,' as Tom Wexler Graham, a shady TA and love interest for Jack and Bobby McAllister's mother Grace (played by Christine Lahti).

He played a class-act jerk. 2005 brought along the summer raunch hit 'Wedding Crashers,' in which Cooper tackled a small but memorable role as the obnoxious boor Zach "Sack" Lodge, hot-headed boyfriend of Claire (Rachel McAdams) and all-around tool. Who wants a sack lunch? Numnumnumnumnum!

He showed off some leading-man chops. In the fall of 2005, Cooper got his first TV lead role as bad boy chef Jack Bourdain in Fox's 'Kitchen Confidential,' based on Anthony Bourdain's restaurant tell-all book of the same name. Even then, critics knew Cooper was something special. "Bradley Cooper has always managed to do more with lesser characters," said EW. "On 'Alias,' his ferrety energy kept Will from being a complete lovesick, noodle-y bore; on 'Jack and Bobby,' he made his ethically challenged TA worth rooting for. Even as a complete jerk in 'Wedding Crashers,' he was confoundingly likable. Cooper's fixer-upper skills will serve him well in Fox's 'Kitchen Confidential' ..." Too bad the show didn't last out the season.

Debuted on the Great White Way. Cooper made his Broadway bow in April 2006 as a successful architect alongside Paul Rudd and some other newbie by the name of Julia Roberts in the stage production of Richard Greenberg's 'Three Days of Rain.' Hailed more as a vehicle for Roberts, Cooper nevertheless more than held his own as architect Pip. "A buoyant, dextrous performer, blows away the pretty woman and even the likable, hardworking Paul Rudd," raved Time Out New York. "It's not until Bradley Cooper's Pip, a great golden retriever of a man, bounds on stage that the show starts to swing," wrote EW. The New York Times, however, called Cooper's performance "alternately perky and indignant in the manner of a sitcom actor doing testy and aggrieved."

He brought it all home. The spring of 2006 brought a supporting role in the romantic comedy 'Failure to Launch,' the Matthew McConaughey-Sarah Jessica Parker starrer in which Cooper (who appeared in the movie with his 'Hangover' costar Justin Bartha) lent his support as Demo, a friend who, like McConaughey's character, also lives with his parents.